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Monthly Archives: May 2012

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Waking up to find you are sick is the most unpleasant feeling, especially when you know you have so much to do. For these specific sick days only, I will encourage the “I don’t want to anything today” behavior and will also give you tips on how to have the perfect sick day.

Wake up early (so you have time to take mini naps throughout the day).

Have a huge cup of tea with honey.

Create your throne on the couch with pillows and blankets galore.

Make sure people are aware of your unwell nature through social networking to receive sympathy calls, texts and the occasional gifts.

Watch Marry Poppins ( It is my tradition to watch this movie every time I am home sick and it immediately makes me feel better).

See how productive this sick day actually is? I came up with 20 things to do in one day without requiring much movement of the body. Try this and you will actually enjoy yourself and be grateful that you “had to” give up your busy life for a day. Happy Sick Day!

This post is going to sound extremely superficial, but I’m telling you, it’s the truth!

It has proven itself time and time again that, when you are feeling totally down in the dumps, applying just a little bit of makeup to your face can automatically change your mood and make you feel better!

Let’s face it, all women have those days when we are feeling absolutely hideous, for no reason whatsoever, nor do we know why we’re feeling that way. Either our hair is flat, or we’ve broken out in pimples, or we are just in a bad mood in general, so we therefore feel ugly as well. I am not saying we need to be only concerned with our outside appearances, because obviously inner beauty is where it’s at and is most important, but sometimes we just need that extra touch to give us the confidence boost we need. It’s as simple as this: put on a little mascara, a little blush, and a little lip color and you will look great and feel a million times better! For me, not worrying about my outer appearance lowers my stress level and allows me to be more fun and friendly.

So, if you haven’t tried it yet, put on some makeup when you’re not feeling too hot and it will brighten your darkest days and help you go from this:

I am staying in Gainesville, devoting my entire summer to acing Organic Chemistry (hopefully acing). While it may seem as though spending your entire summer in a college town would be all hustle and bustle, I was completely shocked to find Gainesville turned into a ghost town for the first half of summer session. I am determined to make this summer an exciting and memorable one, so I took matters into my own hands and did some research. There are actually a ton of really fun, cheap, and adventurous activities to do in Gainesville!

I’ve made a summer “bucket list” for myself so I can enjoy my time exploring my own city with my friends! (This list is not in any particular order of importance)

10. Devil’s Hole (Take S-20 towards Hawthorne. Take route CR-21. Turn left onto Lake Galilee Dr. about 1.8 miles from intersection. Travel 150 yards and take a dirt road to the left, just past the first group of mobile homes. Sinkhole will be about 0.5 miles away on the left side.)

This sinkhole’s location is “hidden,” and the only way to find it is if somebody else has been there and relays the directions to you. Luckily, I have obtained these directions through a friend!

I am at the point of my life where so much is changing, and it seems as though every little event that happens and every decision I make, greatly affects and alters the next one. We are growing up in a time where, through technology, we receive instant gratification with almost everything. While that may be good in many ways where we can learn anything we want at the touch of a button, it also has produced a generation of people that expect everything in life to happen so quickly so that we can receive that “instant gratification.” I am slowly learning that life just doesn’t work that way, and people sometimes forget that we must work hard to achieve our goals and that we must sometimes wait for good things to happen to us, or to get what we want.

The pressures of this super competitive, fast paced society makes myself, and I’m sure many others, very stressed and even nervous. I feel as though I need to always be on the top of my game 24/7, and not a day goes by when I’m not worried about if I will get into a good med school, if I will ever find a husband, if I will be able to have kids before I am 40, or if there are more things I should be doing on top of all the activities I already do! And then I thought to myself, how ridiculous do I sound! The fact that I know I am irrational at some points, yet continue to think them, then worries me even more.

I had a great conversation with my dad, and I realized that yes, while some stress is good and everyone should always be working towards being the best they can be, we can’t always be THE BEST one out there, life always works itself out, and we all just need to take a huge chill pill. I think that we should revert to having a more simplistic outlook in the sense that we cannot control most of what will happen to us in the future, so we should just take life day by day and try to make each day a happy one. It is silly to worry about all of these things, yet people do every day, and it inhibits us from seeing the big picture that everything will fall into place, it just takes time and that we need to learn to be a little patient. So for now, work towards your main goal, whether that be your college degree or your career, establish yourself and be happy with your independence, and with that, everything else we want will follow and catch up with us, when it’s ready to happen. It seems as though not as many people have hobbies anymore because we are so invested in working towards our future. Find something that you enjoy and you will not believe the opportunities that can arise. So with that, I will try to follow my own advice and just go with the flow because I think my mind shouldn’t feel so heavy!

Today, my roommates and I invited some friends over to watch game 4 of the NBA playoffs and had a mini basketball party. Since this was an “official shindig,” there obviously had to be good food for everyone to eat! My roommate, the chef, made the most DELICIOUS recipe she learned from her sister. After stuffing myself throughout the whole game, I obviously needed to post the recipe on here! It’s a perfect appetizer because it takes only 40 minutes to bake and it feeds a lot of people.

Unroll one package of the crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange the longest sides of dough across width of rectangle stone. repeat with remaining package of dough. Using a roller, roll dough to seal perforations. On the longest sides of baking stone cut dough into strips 1 1/2 inches apart and 3 inches deep.

Spread filling evenly over center of dough. To braid, lift dough strips across filling to meet in center, twisting each strip one turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends up to seal at end of braid. Brush egg white over the dough. Sprinkle with almonds.

Us women are always looking for something to new change about ourselves to make us appear fresh and stylish, whether it be a new blouse, a new handbag, or new eyeshadow. However, the simplest way to change up your look is to change the side that your hair falls on. It’s easy, it’s free and it’s really effective in people asking you if you did something to your hair, but they just cannot figure out what it is!

Whether you want to sweep it to the side

or play it safe in the middle

Changing your hair part can truly change the way your face appears and allows to try different hairstyles with it such as straight, curly, beach waves, or even braids!

I personally have had my hair parted to the side for about 10 years and have never tried something new with it. I think I will try to rock the middle part tonight when I go out with my friends!

This is a very hectic time for me, as I am growing up quicker than I can mentally keep up with, and with that I find myself learning something new every day. It is truly enriching to recognize that I am growing and changing into a better person and it is all because I have become aware of my surroundings in a sort of outside perspective that allows me to soak up and not overlook little things that can mean so much.

Last night, one of my roommates was really upset, as she is going through a very difficult time right now. For my whole life, I would listen to people externally, but was always more concerned about my own thoughts and my own life internally. I don’t know why last night, but this time I chose to truly listen to her stories and her feelings. I am normally the type of person who is a master at staying detached from a situation and not letting my own emotions get carried away due to their unhappiness, but once I completely opened myself up and authentically wanted to listen to my friend, I cannot even begin to explain the amount of emotions that suddenly rushed to my head. It was unfamiliar territory, but it was a good thing, because by just simply listening, which comes easily for most people, I was able to fully understand her situation, and I therefore was able to care. This then led me to be able to try and give the best advice I could.

While people love to hear themselves talk about themselves, me being a victim, I have found that taking a step away from yourself and listening to somebody who needs you instead, is far more rewarding. Just by listening to other people and taking another’s advice, rather than thinking I’m always right, I have learned more about myself and life in general in just a few short months than I have learned throughout my entire life.

It is important to get off that high horse and stop thinking that all of your troubles are worst off than others, because frankly, everyone is fighting some battle, whether it’s grieving over a loss, getting over a break up, or even trying to pass organic chemistry. Just listen and you will be amazed at what you will learn.

Here’s a great recipe that my grandmother recently taught me how to make, now that I’m on my own and in college. Since I am always on the go, I love that it’s really simple to make and it makes a great side to any meal!

Ingredients:

1 can of 3 bean salad

½ bag/box of tricolored or veggie pasta

2 teaspoons balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Directions:

Heat water in a pot on high until boils

Add the pasta, lower the heat, and stir frequently for 8-9 mins

Drain pasta and put into a bowl

Open the can of 3 bean salad and drain 1/3 of the juice, leaving some left over to use as sauce for the pasta